


Level of Perception

by scilessweetheart



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s01e08 Lunatic, Evil Kate Argent, Kidnapped Stiles Stilinski, Kidnapping, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Misunderstandings, Protective Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Protective Sheriff Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27341110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scilessweetheart/pseuds/scilessweetheart
Summary: Based on the end of Season 1 Episode 8.On their hunt for the second beta, Chris and Kate Argent find a false lead. They assume Stiles is the werewolf, rather than Scott. Seeing him in the Preserve by himself, the Argents can't pass up an opportunity to catch the beta and find the Alpha.Stiles isn't a werewolf, which he tries to tell the Argents. That being said, he can't let them know about Scott. So he takes it. He just has to hold out until help comes.
Relationships: Allison Argent & Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski & Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 15
Kudos: 180
Collections: Teen Wolf





	1. Suspicions

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! So, in case you haven't seen the episode in a while, at the end of episode 8, there is a scene where Kate and Chris watch Stiles interact with the Sheriff, and it is implied that they think he is the beta. I thought that was a really interesting concept and wanted to write about what could've happened if they went with that idea! The first chapter is short, but the other four will definitely be longer, don't worry (and also in Stiles' perspective).

Chris and Kate had a suspicion. Stiles Stilinski is most likely involved in the supernatural business. Between his tendency to show up at crime scenes, him frequenting the Preserve, being spotted with known werewolf Derek Hale, and his mysterious absences from school events, he had caught the Argent’s attention. This is why they found themselves parked away from a crime scene, monitoring him on the night of the full moon. Chris had to admit, there is a sort of poetic irony in the fact that the one hiding supernatural connections is the son of the sheriff.

“That one’s Stiles?” He asks, eying the twitchy young boy.

“Another friend of Allison’s.” Kate confirms.

“You want to tell me about that talk you had with her?”

“You tell me something first – that night you came across those two betas, one of them was smaller, right?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, was he just smaller? Or could he have been younger, too?”

They listened in on his conversation, trying to see if he would reveal something. They doubted he would, as he and the sheriff were surrounded by deputies and EMTs, but they couldn’t pass up a good opportunity for reconnaissance. He wondered if it was possible that Stiles could not only be connected, but the beta they are searching for, like Kate suggested. It would make sense.

“It’s a long story. I just needed to make sure you were okay.” He mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

The sheriff gives him a confused smile. “Okay, then.”

“I’ll see you at home?” Stiles asks, backing up towards his car.

“My shift ends in about three hours, so I’ll see you then.”

“By dad. Be safe.”

There is no denying the fond smile on the adult’s face. “You too, kid.”

He hates to be the one to cause the Sheriff distress, but it has to be done. He’s possibly a werewolf. He is dangerous.

“He’s leaving.” Kate nudges him.

Chris rolls his eyes. “I can see that.”

“Well, follow him.” He pulls out of his spot in the woods and back onto the main road. They tail him for a few miles along the highway bordering the Preserve. Kate groans. “I can’t get a good shot.”

“I can’t get any closer without him seeing us.”

She narrows her eyes with determination. “Hold on…”

Kate shot the small arrow and it landed perfectly in the middle of Stiles’ back tire. After a few minutes, they could see it noticeable deflate, and he pulled over to the side of the road. They could see the teenager climb down out of his Jeep while talking on the phone. Chris rolled down his window so they could eavesdrop on the conversation. The boy wasn’t exactly known for being quiet.

“Scott! You’ve gotta call me back, dude. It’s the full moon and everything, so…” He trails off, muttering angrily into the phone.

The two Argents exchange a glance.

“Did you hear that?” Kate whispers.

“I did.”

She leans back against the seat, crossing her arms. “It’s definitely him.”

They watch as the boy wanders around the car, likely searching for the source of his problems. This theory is confirmed when they hear him swear into the phone. “Shit, I popped a tire. I’m going to stop calling now, but you better text me or something, or I swear…”

He hangs up and pockets the phone. They take this as their opportunity to approach him. They climb out of their SUV and head towards the unassuming teenager. When they have almost reached him, he must hear them, because he spins around with wide eyes. He resembles a baby deer in headlights. His already young-looking face contorts into a look of barely veiled fear, making Chris feel almost guilty about what will be happening.

But Stiles is friends with Allison, and he must protect her. He knows the motto – “we hunt those who hunt us.” As young and innocent as Stiles appears, Chris knows that what they are doing is for the best.

“Hello. Stiles, was it?” He asked.

Stiles shoves his hands in his jacket pocket and fakes a smile. “Hi, Mr. Argent. What’s going on?”

“We just have a couple questions to ask you.” Kate butts in, plastering on an intense grin of her own.

The boy starts to ramble. “Kate, right? Allison’s aunt? I’ve heard a lot about you. Allison and I, we’re pretty good friends you know.”

“You seem nervous.”

“Nothing like being cornered by two strange adults in the middle of the night.” He chuckles awkwardly, glancing around at the emptiness surrounding them.

“You said it yourself – we’re not strangers.”

He changes tactics and gets straight to the point. “What do you need to ask me?”

“Why don’t you come with us? I can see you’ve popped a tire. We can talk in the car and drop you off at home.” Chris offers, gesturing back towards their car.

“No, thanks. My dad, the sheriff,” he makes sure to emphasize, “is nearby, so I can get him to come get me. Speaking of which, I should be giving him a call…”

Chris eyes the phone in his hand and begins to coach him. “There’s no need for you to do that. Why don’t you just put your phone away?”

Luckily, Stiles isn’t stupid, and puts his phone back in his pocket. Chris can see the lock screen of his phone – nothing is dialing. He does, however, see a picture of him and Scott McCall, Allison’s boyfriend. He wonders if Scott knows what is going on. He would assume so, based on their phone call, but he would really like to not jump to conclusions. Not about this. He hopes for Scott’s sake, and Allison’s, that he is blissfully unaware.

“Now, Stiles-” He says, approaching the boy.

That’s all it takes. The teenager goes bolting into the woods, taking Chris and Kate by surprise. Any doubts he had about Stiles being the beta evaporated.

“Let’s go!” Kate yells at him

They take off running after him. He outruns them shockingly well, though Chris assumes that can be chalked up to the years of lacrosse. That being said, Chris and Kate have been doing this for more years than Stiles has been alive. They quickly corner him.

He disappears somewhere among the trees, though all three of them know there is no escape for him. They wander around, trying to catch a glimpse of his blue sweatshirt or long shadow.

“Come on, Stiles. You can’t hide from us forever…” Kate calls out.

That’s when they see him. He has his back pressed against a tree and his eyes are darting around. Chris can see his hands shake at his sides, though he isn’t sure if that is from anxiety or the cold. A sliver of doubt creeps into Chris’s mind. He doesn’t seem like a threat. He assumed Stiles would have shifted, desperate to get away. It isn’t like they didn’t already know he is the werewolf.

He didn’t have time to dwell on it. Seconds later, an arrow shoots out, grazing the boy’s shoulder. He cries out and tries to pull away, but his clothes are pinned to the tree.

“Gotcha.” Kate smirks, emerging from the shadows and knocking him out.

They drag his unconscious body back to their car before driving towards the underground tunnel near the Hale house. That would be the perfect place to extract the information.

Chris just hopes their suspicions are correct.


	2. Reactions

Stiles woke up in pain. So much pain. His head pounded with such ferocity that he couldn’t open his eyes. He cracked them open only to be met with the sight of a grey basement and a blonde woman. Everything was still fuzzy, so he could barely assess his surroundings. He was tied up to some old metal gate or wall or something with bars, with his hands above his head. He also wasn’t wearing a shirt, which was both alarming and humiliating.

His vision cleared and he was met with the face of Kate Argent. She was sitting in a chair across the room, watching him. He wondered how long she had been there. At that moment, everything came back to him – them approaching him by his Jeep, the chase through the woods, Kate knocking him out. He felt his heart rate pick up. He knew he was already prone to panic attacks, as he had them frequently after his mom died, but this would be a really in opportune place to have on. He tried to steady his breathing as Kate began to talk.

“Well, hello there.”

He couldn’t help but react. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

“In a basement… somewhere.” She replied calmly, glancing around the room.

He rolled his eyes, almost involuntarily. “Well, obviously.”

“Wow, someone’s got a mouth. I had heard you were a sarcastic little shit, but this is just lack of self-preservation.”

“Believe it or not, I’ve heard that a lot.”

“I’m sure.” She stood up and walked in front of that. “I’ve just got a few questions and then you can leave.”

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.” She crossed her arms. “Who’s the alpha?”

His chest tightened. He had two options – tell her the truth, lie, or play dumb. He very well couldn’t tell her the truth, which was that Scott was the beta and they were looking for the alpha on their own. And for once, he didn’t know how to lie his way out of this situation. So, he went with the third option. “Alpha? What alpha?”

“Don’t play dumb, it’s not a good look on you.”

“Look, Kate – can I call you Kate? – I have no clue what you’re talking about.” That part was not a lie. Despite the days of searching, he and Scott were no closer to finding out who bit him.

“The secret’s out. You’re a werewolf.” He choked. Out of all the reasons he thought he was there, this was not one of them. If he wasn’t absolutely terrified before, he is now. Not only were the Argents blood thirsty werewolf hunters that kidnapped him, they also thought he was one of the werewolves. He’s gonna die in here. “And you’re a beta. Which means you would have had to be bitten by an alpha. Trust me, none of this is new information. So just tell me what I want to know, and we can work something out.”

He snorts. “You, the famous werewolf hunter, would let a beta just walk out?”

“Possibly.”

“Well, hate to break it to you, but I’m not a werewolf.”

She frowns and takes a step closer, making him shrink back against the gate. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

“This would be comical if it wasn’t so seriously terrifying. I’m not a werewolf and I don’t know what you’re talking about. Have you ever seen me play lacrosse?”

She hums thoughtfully. “No, actually. You seem to be always riding the bench.”

“That’s not suspicious, it’s because I’m terrible!” He cries out.

“You also seem to not be surprised about werewolves.”

Shit. She’s right. He sputters for a good explanation. “When you’ve lived in Beacon Hills long enough, you see some weird things. My dad’s the sheriff. I’ve heard of some really strange cases. Werewolves is actually the most logical option. I was leaning more towards vampires actually, if I’m being honest, but those are usually found in Eastern Europe, though I guess werewolves are too, but-”

He continues to ramble until she finally cuts him off. “God, do you ever stop talking?”

“Not really.” He jokes, but that doesn’t deter her.

“You’ve also been seen with Derek Hale?”

“So?” He tries to put on his best surprised face. “Oh my God, is he a werewolf?”

“You’re a pretty good liar. Not good enough, of course, but you almost fooled me for a minute.” She chuckles almost appreciatively. “Now, tell me who the alpha is, or I will have to resort to some… other means of extracting information.”

She holds up a knife and his blood runs cold. He’s seen the evidence of his best friend’s encounters with the Argents before, and this is not looking good for him. She’s obviously not afraid to use that, especially if she thinks he’s supernatural. He wants to stay strong and act tough, like Scott, but he can’t. He squirms away in fear, and tears fill his eyes.

“Hold up. I honestly don’t know who the alpha is. You said I can’t lie to you, right? Then look at me and see that I am 100% telling the truth.” He begs.

“Unfortunately, I just don’t believe that, Stiles.”

“Please don’t.” He weakly tries.

She drags the tip of the knife slowly across his collar bone. Even though it’s not deep, he is in some serious pain, so he can’t help but cry out. She seems to take pleasure in this, making it deeper to the point where the top of his chest is covered in blood. He is getting dizzy when she finally steps back.

“Ready to talk?” She asks him, twirling the knife in her fingers.

He pants, “I don’t know anything, I swear.”

Unsatisfied with that answer, she twirls the knife again before making another cut below the first. And then a third. Each time she uses the knife, she asks him the question again. Even if he knew the answer, he didn’t think he would be able to answer with the amount of pain he is in.

“Still nothing?” She smiles, making her seem like a psychopath. Though, Stiles supposes she is.

“I can’t tell you.” He whispers.

Her face hardens yet again. “You can’t or you won’t?”

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know!” He pleads, practically yelling.

She takes a step forward and he prematurely cries out, making her laugh. “Pathetic. Lying for a dirty werewolf who is killing innocent humans. You are complacent, Stiles. Especially as their beta.”

She steps away from him and throws the knife on the table, making him sigh in relief. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to hear that. She doesn’t look back at him as she starts towards the door.

“I’m not-” He protested weakly, but she was gone, the door banging as it closes behind her.

He must’ve passed out, because the next thing he knows, he is blinking himself awake and can hear two voices outside of his cell. There are two of them, though he isn’t quite coherent enough to be able to distinguish them. Finally, the voices get loud enough that he can understand the words they are saying.

“Is he in there?” He hears a hushed male voice.

“Yeah. He won’t talk.” The second voice is definitely Kate. His heart starts to speed up at the sound of her voice.

“I assumed he wouldn’t. We’ll just have to wait for the alpha to find him.”

“Are you sure we can’t-”

“Kate. I said no.” The second voice he can finally make out as Chris Argent. “‘We hunt those who hunt us.’ That’s our code. We have no evidence that this sixteen year old boy has done anything violent.”

“It would make this go by so much faster.”

“Do you want me to remove you from this situation?”

“No! We are so close.” Kate protests.

“Then drop it. Now, Allison will be waking up soon, and I don’t want her asking questions, so I’m heading out.”

“Fine. I’ll stay here.”

He tenses at the idea of being left alone with Kate. He does find a sense of relief, however, in the idea that Chris doesn’t know what Kate did to him. Not only that, but he is very against it. That means he has a chance of getting out, despite how small. If Chris found him in here, and Stiles could convince him he wasn’t a werewolf, he might let him out. That hope gives him a small sliver of comfort.

He is, however, alarmed by the statement “Allison will be waking up soon.” The last he heard, it was 9 p.m. and Allison was out with Jackson. That means he’s been gone for around twelve hours. He wonders if anyone has noticed he’s missing yet.

His shoulders are starting to burn from the uncomfortable position he has been tied in and his torso burns. He wants to look down and assess the damage, but he’s almost too afraid. He finally works up the nerve to see chest. Like he felt, there are three long, jagged line across the top, still bleeding a significant amount. He would be concerned about blood loss and infection, but that is honestly the least of his worries.

He thinks the pattern looks familiar. He tries to imagine what they must look like to someone else. Then it hits him. They look like claw marks.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty.” As if having heard his thoughts, Kate makes an appearance. “Hm, shame to see you haven’t healed yet.”

He tries to joke, but it falls flat. “Spoiler alert: humans don’t heal from stab wounds in the span of a few hours.”

“But werewolves do.” She points out.

“And there lies the problem.”

She frowns, getting increasingly more frustrated. “Do you think I’m an idiot? Do you think I don’t know that werewolves can control their healing?”

“They can?” That was news to him.

“You’re infuriating.” She reaches out and touches his wounds, making him wince.

“Why? Why are you doing this?”

Her demeanor completely changes, as if she’s been waiting for the opportunity to share the story. “Get comfortable, I’m about to tell you a story.”

“I’m not exactly going anywhere.” He mutters.

She pulls up her chair directly in front of him. “Long ago, there was a girl – Marie Jean Valet. Well, later she became an Argent. There was a legendary monster, known as La Bête du Gevaudan. Known in English as the Beast of Gevaudan. It’s French. She killed this beast, who ended up being one of the biggest and first well-known werewolves. From that, came us. The Argents. Famous werewolf hunters. Because these monsters – including you – terrorize innocent people and need to be eliminated. Plus, no one should have that much power.”

“If you’re killing them, then who is really the one with all the power?”

“Interesting point, young beta. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to manipulate me against this.”

As much as he doesn’t want to reveal his cards, he can’t help but spit out, “Mr. Argent at least seems to have morals. What’s wrong with you?”

Luckily, she didn’t catch on. “Oh, please. You should meet our father.”

She is interrupted by a large growl emitting from Stiles’ stomach. He hadn’t realized before, but it had been a significant amount of time since he’d last eaten or had water. He spent his lunch hour that Friday dealing with Scott’s full moon situation, not in the cafeteria. “Are you going to feed me anytime soon? I kind of haven’t eaten in like 24 hours.”

“Once you answer my question.” She counters.

He wants to cry. “Is there anything else you can ask?”

“Where’s Derek Hale?”

“What do you want with Derek Hale?”

She pauses before saying. “To finish what I started.”

“To finish what you… the Hale fire. That was you!”

She does a little curtsy and smiles, making Stiles want to throw up. “Guilty as charged.”

His heart starts to pound with alarm. “They’re still out looking for you!”

“I know. But they’ll never solve it.”

Then it hits him. It’s like he heard from his dad – if a kidnapper shows you their face, they won’t be letting you leave. Morbid, yes, but true. Then you’d be able to identify them in a line-up and share who they are. He has seen Kate’s face, for sure. And now she’s confessing to a crime. Not good signs.

“Wait. If you’re telling me that then… I’m not leaving, am I?”

She groans. “Way to spoil the surprise!”

He feels the sudden urge to throw up. He honestly starts to gag, making her laugh. “You’re going to throw up on yourself? That’s embarrassing.”

He manages to not make himself sick, but only just. He has never felt panic like this before. Now he knows, with almost full certainty, that he will die in here. Scott will have to face everything on his own, or with Derek Hale, which is somehow worse, because he isn’t totally sure he trusts the guy. And his dad. _Oh God, his dad._ He already lost his mom; he doesn’t know how his dad will handle this. Being left alone. Especially in a way like this.

“They’ll find me. Someone will find me.” He tells her, thinking of Scott and his dad. He hopes he sounds more sure than he feels.

She chuckled darkly, before leaving the room. “Good luck with that.”


	3. Complications

Stiles is getting really tired of passing out. He hates the idea that he can barely stay awake long enough to think and that he has no idea what happens while he was out. Luckily, he is feeling much more coherent than earlier. He can hear Kate and someone, probably Chris, talking outside of the room. While he knows this isn’t his best opportunity, he can’t help but be filled with panic and decides to put his plan of ‘Win Chris Argent Over’ into action early.

“Hey! Hello! Someone, please help!” He cried out, desperately.

He heard Chris say, “Kate? What’s going on in there?”

“Nothing. He’s fine.” She brushed him off, ignoring the yelling. “We’ll find out who the alpha is soon enough.”

“It’s not me, I’m not the beta!” He continued to shout.

“Kate!”

“It is him.” She pushed.

Chris didn’t sound like he believed her. “Let me in.”

“Do you think I can’t handle this?”

“I’m more afraid of how you’re already handling this.”

“He seems well enough to yell.” She points out, and he can feel his chance slipping away. She makes a good point, unfortunately. His voice sounds surprisingly strong for how weak he felt physically. It must be the adrenaline. He thinks he read something about that once.

Chris threatens her, “If I come back later to find you’ve broken the code…”

“Yeah, I’ve got it.”

He makes one last attempt. “Wait! No! Please!”

But it is too late. He can hear the sound of Chris’s boots echoing down the hallway. He sags against the restraints and tries to not let the tears fall. That was it. That was his only idea. His one shot. He has no other way out unless, somehow, his dad or Scott can find him before Kate decides he isn’t worth the effort. With each passing hour, he can feel his chances dwindling. Plus, he knows from his dad that after 48 hours, the odds of finding a missing person decrease dramatically. He wonders how much time he has left.

He is pulled out of his panic by the loud bang of the door and Kate Argent entering the room.

“You just can’t stop causing trouble, can you?” She tells him, darkly.

“If I remember correctly, this seems to be your fault. Unless I kidnapped myself and don’t remember.”

“Glad to see you’ve got your sense of humor back.” She takes a step towards him, and he flattens himself as far back against the gate as he can. “I can’t wait to take it away again.”

Despite the fear, he jokes. “What have I got to lose?”

She runs her fingers along his gaping chest wounds. While those had faded to a sort of vivid ache, he didn’t doubt that they would sting with a new ferocity if Kate chose to reopen them. When she steps away, he thinks he might be in the clear for now. That thought disappears almost instantly. His heart stops beating when she pulls out a taser baton. He had seen that be used once or twice by deputies, and they are far from harmless. The fact that Kate has one right now makes him extremely nervous.

“So, Chris? That was your brilliant idea? You thought that you could convince him you’re innocent and he’d let you go. Poor little innocent Stiles.” She pouted at him mockingly. “In case you’ve forgotten, he’s been doing this longer than I have. No one here will help you.”

He raises his chin defiantly. “I don’t think that’s true.”

“Then you’re more naïve than I thought.”

The turns it on and he can practically see it crackle with electricity. He braces himself for what is to come. Unfortunately, nothing could have prepared him for this. The burning sensation spread from his torso all the way up to his arms and down his legs and he withered with pain, crying out. This only serves as motivation to her, as she pulls it away and lets him catch his breath before doing it again. The second time is just as bad, if not worse, than the first.

“You shouldn’t have called for help, Stiles. You should’ve known better.” She sings to him.

She goes to use it again but is cut off by the ring of her cellphone. Stiles breathes a sigh of relief.

“Hello?” She raises a finger to Stiles, telling him to hold on. “Perfect. I’ll head out now.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Hot date?” He jokes, but it is weak. He can barely catch his breath and is unable to move practically at all. Despite that, he digs for information.

“You could say that.”

“Found the alpha?”

She gives him a look. “Are you trying to make me hurt you?”

“Well you have already.” He stares at the baton in her hand.

He waits patiently until she cracks. “I’ve got the location of Derek Hale. Maybe soon you’ll have a cell mate.”

“Or not. He’s notoriously hard to catch. Never stays in one place too long.” He shrugs, trying to sound nonchalant. Well, kind of shrugs. It comes off as more of a shudder or spasm.

This piques Kate’s interest. “What do you know about him?”

“Quite a bit, actually.” That’s a lie, but luckily, she doesn’t seem to catch on.

“Care to share?”

“Nah.” She steps forward, raising the taser baton to him again. “Fine! Fine! I’ll talk.”

“Perfect.”

“He lives in the abandoned Hale House. He’s still a beta, not an alpha, so his pack is with his sister Laura Hale. He doesn’t tend to interact with other werewolves in the area and he barely goes out in the daytime. He drives a Camaro. The police still think he’s responsible for the fire, even though there is no proof.” He rambles on.

She pushes him harshly back against the gate and his spine twinges with pain, as well as irritating his many other injuries. “I knew all of that already!”

He smirks, despite knowing this will only cause more pain. “I know.”

“Then what was the point?”

That’s when he can reveal his cards. “It took you about two minutes to sit here and listen to me talk, so I bet by the time you get there, he will already be gone.”

“You little-” She growls, taking another step towards him.

He cuts her off. “Tick tock!”

The second she leaves, his resolve fades and he starts to cry. He is in more pain than he ever thought imaginable, and he can already see burn marks forming. He wants to go home. He wants his dad. He wants Scott to find him in this stupid, damp, moldy, terrifying basement. He wants to go back in time and never drag Scott out to the middle of the woods, so they could not be involved in any of this werewolf business.

He knows that’s impossible though. Nothing is going to change. Kate will come back, and she’ll ask him for information he doesn’t have, and she’ll continue to torture him for it. He’s tired. So, so tired. And he has pretty much lost all hope. So, he just waits.

Eventually, she comes back. She’s covered in dirt and blood, and she looks livid. He knows he shouldn’t have provoked her, but he couldn’t let Derek end up in here like him. Even if it would likely raise his chance of survival. Right now, Scott needs him more than he needs Stiles. 

“So? How’d it go?” She rushes up to him instantly and punches him in the face, probably breaking his nose. “What? No hello? I’m hurt.”

“You did this on purpose.”

He rolls his eyes, despite the throbbing pain. “Duh. I thought that was obvious.”

“Why? What loyalties do you have to him?”

He cocks his head to the side. “None. But why would I want to make things easy for you?”

She steps forward and starts to run her fingers along his shoulder and arm, almost gently. Her words, though harsh, come out almost sympathetically. It’s so fake and manipulative it makes him want to vomit.

“Stiles. You should just tell me what I want to know. I’ve been out there. No one out there will help you. In fact, it’s been 24 hours and I don’t think anyone has even reported you missing.”

He knows he shouldn’t believe her, but hearing it still makes his heart stutter. “That’s not… that can’t be right.”

“While I have every reason to lie to you, I don’t even need to! The truth is so much better. Don’t forget, we want the alpha to come. That means you’re barely hidden. If daddy is as good of a sheriff as you keep telling us, shouldn’t he be here by now?”

He hates that she’s right. His dad is a very good sheriff, he knows that for a fact. And Scott is a werewolf who can track his scent – he saw him do it with Allison. Between the two of them, someone should’ve come for him. He knows his dad is busy with the “animal attacks” and Scott has werewolf duties, but have neither of him realized he is missing? He can’t believe that. Out of all of their flaws, he knows that they care about Stiles. And his dad knows what he’s doing.

He looks at her dead in the eyes. “He will be.”

Not too far from where Stiles was, Scott found himself wandering through the Preserve. He had just finished a conversation with Derek about the night before and was on his way back home. While he trots through the woods, his phone starts to ring in his pocket. The caller ID lets him know it’s the sheriff.

“Scott?” He sounds worried, which alarms Scott. That, and the fact that he hardly ever calls him.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Is Stiles with you?”

“No, I haven’t seen him since Friday night. Why?”

The Sheriff sighs and admits, “I can’t seem to get ahold of him, and his Jeep isn’t in the driveway. I don’t think he’s been home all day.”

Scott stops in his tracks. “That is really strange. I don’t know where he could be, but I definitely don’t think-”

He stops in his tracks. In front of him is the recognizable blue Jeep. It is pulled off to the side of the road and looks completely empty. Stiles would never abandon his Jeep; he loves that old car more than anything. That in and of itself is a red flag.

“Think what?” The Sheriff asks worriedly, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“I found his Jeep.”

“What? Where?”

“On the road by the Preserve.”

“Do you know why he would be there?”

Scott looked down at his phone, seeing he had a bunch of unopened messages from Stiles, all dating back to Friday. All of the texts were pretty much the same, asking where he was and what was happening while he was a werewolf. The missed calls were all around the same time, so he assumed, had he answered, Stiles would have told him the same things. The last notification he received had been a voicemail.

“Hold on, I have a voicemail from him.” Noah waits patiently on the other end of the phone as Scott listens to it carefully.

_Scott! You’ve gotta call me back, dude. It’s the full moon and everything, so I’m worried. I don’t know if you’ll remember any of this, but you ripped your hand out of handcuffs and took off. I’ve been looking for you all night and have no clue what you’ve been up to. I’m by the Preserve now, so if you get this soon, let me know where you are, and I can try to come pick you up. Shit, I popped a tire. I’m going to stop calling now, but you better text me or something, or I swear…_

After a few moments of silence from the other end, he hears the man almost frantic. “What does it say? Scott?”

“Friday night. He was here. He said he popped a tire.” He walks around the Jeep, taking a mental note of the oddities. “He’s definitely got a flat. The door is cracked open and his wallet is in the center console.”

“His wallet? He never willingly leaves that behind. He’s so paranoid.” He can practically see the Sheriff shaking his head at his sons ridiculousness.

“I know.” His stomach clenched. “Something is really wrong.”

“I know. I’ll put an APB out. Let me know if you hear from him.”

“You too.” He ends the call.

He sighs and continues to investigate the car. He isn’t sure what he is hoping for – this to be related to the supernatural and something he and Derek can fix, or a totally human crime that he can’t help with but is probably more easily solved. Neither are particularly good options. He just hopes whatever it is isn’t too serious.

All hope flies out the window when he notices one of the Argent’s bullets by the tire.


	4. Indecisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of this dialogue came from the episode 1x10, so if it seems familiar that's why. This is also a disclaimer that some of the credit for this (other than the characters/setting/plot/etc. obviously) goes to the writers of Teen Wolf. :)

He is really tired of seeing Kate’s face. She is currently in a chair, sitting across from him, just staring. Every so often she’ll pull out her phone, or her eyes will unfocus like she is deep in thought, but she comes to quickly. He wants to ask what’s going on but decides not to. Even though he’s sure she’ll eventually tell him anyway. This lasts for about thirty minutes until she finally breaks the silence.

“How good of friends would you say you and Allison are?” Kate asks carefully, leaning forward and propping her hands on her knees.

Out of all the things he expected her to ask, this was not it. “What?”

“You and Allison. Close?”

He hesitated. “Depends. What do you want to hear?”

“The truth.”

Considering he doesn’t know what Kate is looking for here, he decides to, for once, answer her question. “We spend a lot of time together, but we aren’t close. We just both hang out with Scott. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely would consider us friends, I mean, we are lab partners in chemistry, but it’s not like. A big thing.”

“Perfect.” She smirks, grabbing her phone.

He doesn’t even think he can feel disappointed at this point. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He is forced to hang there, watching as Kate glances at the door every couple minutes or so. He wonders what she is waiting for. He wonders if he even wants to know. About ten minutes after that, his questions are answered. The door slides open with a resounding bang, revealing a small brunette in a striped dress.

“Allison!” He calls out, pulling against his restraints.

Her mouth falls open and she rushes towards him. “Oh my God, Stiles? What’s going on?”

He has never been more relieved to see another person before. Even better is the fact that she seems horrified at what Kate has been doing. He supposes he can’t blame her. He’s covered in blood and burns and is shaking like a leaf. He is almost positive he has a black eye in addition to the multiple bruises littering his body.

Kate steps in front of her, effectively blocking her path. She flicks out the taser baton and holds it up to him. He automatically shrinks away. This doesn’t deter her, though. She jabs it into his side. He writhes in pain, tears leaking from his eyes.

Allison gasps and tugs on Kate’s arm. “What are you doing? You’re going to kill him!”

“Oh come on, don’t get all ethical on me now, kiddo.”

She spins to face Kate, fire in her eyes. “Why is he here?”

“Come on! Show her! Make this more fun.”

She continues to taunt him, using the baton another time for good measure. He can barely withstand it at this point and his vision is going dark. He tries to stay awake though, for Allison’s sake. That, and he needs her to help him get out.

“Show me what?”

“He’s a werewolf.”

Her face goes sheet white and she stumbles back. “A what?”

Kate continues to talk nonchalantly, as if they were discussing a grocery list. “A werewolf. Shapeshifter, Lycaon, werewolf. To me, he’s just another dumb animal.” Kate smiles, pinching Stiles’ cheek. He pulls away from her with a growl.

“No…”

Kate wanders over and runs a hand down the side of his face. He tries to move away but is so weak that all he can manage is rolling his head to the other side. This obviously does not stop her. She uses her thumb to lift up his lip, calling Allison over.

“Come here. These are canine teeth. Right here – that’s where his fangs would be. Made for the tearing and rending of flesh. Not something you’d find on those cute little leaf-eating herbivores is it.”

“This is a joke to you?”

“Sweetheart, there are werewolves running around in the world. Everything’s a joke to me. How else do you think I stay sane?”

“But he’s not… he’s human.”

“I have to admit, he can control his shift very well. But think about it Allison. You’ve been telling me Scott and Stiles have been acting weird recently. Doesn’t this make sense?”

“So it’s him? All the animal attacks?” She shakes her head before contradicting herself. “But wait… at the high school… he was with me the whole time. That couldn’t have been him.”

“There are actually three of them. Another younger one like him, called the beta. And then there’s the alpha. Alpha is the pack leader. Bigger, stronger, nastier. Those are the real ugly ones. The one we are trying to catch.”

She looks back towards the door. “When were they going to tell me?” Stiles assumes she is talking about her parents.

“They still haven’t decided if they’re going to.”

“Why?” She says weakly.

“Let’s just say if you react badly… not good.”

Stiles feels bad for her. He can’t imagine thinking he had a normal life and family only to find out they were psychotic werewolf hunters who had kidnapped his friend. She didn’t ask for this anymore than he did. And the thing is, he likes Allison. She is nice, funny, tough, and, most importantly, makes Scott happy. He doesn’t want to think about how much this will probably ruin her. Unless she decides to join them and hunt werewolves. That would really suck.

“Stiles?” She looks towards him for some sort of guidance.

He jumps at the chance to reassure her, rambling “Allison, it’s not true. I promise it’s not true.”

He seems to get through to her at least partially, because she looks at her aunt distrustfully. “Kate, you know I love you, but this is insane! This is clumsy, ridiculous, _human_ , Stiles. Who has never done anything to make me think he’s a werewolf.”

His heart soars. “Exactly! Please Allison, you have to get help.”

“Stiles…” She heads towards him and he pulls against his restraints even harder, and he can feel his wrists start to bleed. The pain doesn’t register though. He is desperate and filled with adrenaline.

Seeing what was happening, Kate shouts from somewhere behind Allison, “He attacked me! That’s how I know he is the wolf!”

Stiles wants to kill her. She’s going to stand here and lie to Allison? Saying that Stiles attacked her? When she kidnapped and tortured him? He hopes that Allison won’t believe her. Unfortunately, he knows she will. If it was his dad or Melissa or something, he would believe them over Allison. It’s her aunt, after all. He just hopes that somehow she sees through it.

His mouth falls open. “What? That’s not true!”

The hurt in Allison’s eyes is evident. “You attacked her?”

“No, Allison, I swear.” He is practically begging at this point.

“I don’t know who to believe… why are you doing this?”

“You think I would capture your friend just for fun? I did it to save my life, Allison. And yours, because he is going to lead us to the alpha. Trust me, if I could keep all of you out of this I would.”

She looks back and forth between them before sighing. “Can I… have some time to think?”

“Of course. I know how much this is to take in.”

She starts to head towards the door and Stiles wants to scream. This is the second time he’s been so close to getting help, only for it to be ripped away. He tries to think of something, anything, he could tell her that will work to his advantage.

Then it hits him. _Scott._

Scott is the real werewolf. Maybe if he could somehow tell her without Kate hearing… no. It’s too risky. He would be betraying Scott by telling Allison in the first place. Plus, if she ends up siding with Kate, things would only get worse for him.

But Stiles hesitates. He loves Scott like a brother, don’t get him wrong. However, he can’t die here. He can’t leave his dad. And if Allison goes after Scott, then they can deal with that later. Right now, he needs to get out of here. Desperately.

“Allison…” He calls out weakly.

“Don’t talk to her.” Kats snaps, but he ignores her.

He looks at her straight in the eyes and hopes he gets his point across. “Allison. I’m not the one who’s the beta.”

He worded it that way on purpose, hoping she would catch on. Her face dawns in realization. She nods subtly, letting him know she got the message. However, she continues to back towards the door.

“I’m going to go.” Her voice is tentative and confused.

He hopes she’ll come back to help, but he isn’t sure. “No! Wait!”

She gives him one last sad look, before shutting the door. He bangs his head back against the gate in frustration. It makes his vision swim, but he can’t seem to care at this point. None of it matters anyway. Kate is just toying with him at this point, like a spider slowly wrapping up the fly in a web. He’s the stupid fly.

He probably should’ve come up with a wolf themed metaphor. It would’ve been more fitting. He probably could’ve on a normal day, but he can barely think straight right now. There’s a ringing in his ears and he’s so, so tired. He tries to count to 100 in his head, which he does when he’s nervous, but can barely make it to 30 before he loses track and has to start over.

“Would you look at that? Another recruitment to my cause.” Kate says, smirking at him victoriously.

He snarls at her. “You lied to her.”

“Barely. I needed her to be convinced.”

“Why? Why do you need her so badly?”

“Because if I can convince her to work with me, then Chris will finally see things my way! And then we can finally rid Beacon Hills of all the werewolves, like we are supposed to.”

His stomach churns. “You’re sick.”

“No. I’m smart. And I’m powerful.” She grins.

Outside the door, Allison listens to their conversation intently. She wonders how much Kate lied to her about. Stiles being the werewolf? That he attacked her? She thinks back to what Stiles said – “I am not the one who’s the beta.” That definitely means someone else is. She understood that much. And if it wasn’t him, it would have to be close to him. Except, Stiles doesn’t have many friends outside of them. The only person he’s really close to is…

Scott. Scott is a werewolf. And he is being hunted by her family.

She rushes out of the basement and through the Preserve towards her car. Kate had called her to an old, abandoned cellar near the Hale House and she hadn’t thought much of it at first. Kate had weird hobbies. Now she understands. She climbs in the car and pulls out as fast as humanly possible. She doesn’t realize how fast she is speeding down the road until she heard the wail of a police siren behind her.

She pulls over, and seconds later she hears a knock on her window, she rolls it down and immediately starts rambling. “No… this isn’t me. I promise this isn’t me. I don’t usually do this… I’m not… Just write me a ticket. Please, write me the ticket.” She finishes, staring at the steering wheel, trying to hold back tears.

“This is the first time I think I’ve ever been asked to write someone a ticket.” A familiar voice tells her.

“Sheriff?” She looks up, shocked to see the man standing at the window. “What are you doing here?”

“My job?” He raises his eyebrows.

In that moment, she can see how tired he is. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days, and even his eyes hold a heavy gaze. Allison can’t blame him. He’s sure he’s been out looking for Stiles ever since he went missing. Scott called her as soon as he got off the phone with the Sheriff after he found the Jeep. At first, she assumed he was just off doing something dumb and would return any second. Obviously that was untrue, and she cursed herself for not taking Scott’s fear seriously. In addition to that, she had heard from Scott that Stiles lost his mom years ago, so she can only imagine how the Sheriff must be feeling.

Suddenly unable to control herself, she starts to cry. “I can’t…”

He looks at a loss for words. “Oh, don’t cry. It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not fine. It will never be fine again.”

She takes a deep breath and tries to compose herself, despite the growing sense of dread in her chest. She knows she has to tell him. It’s the right thing to do and if Kate does something to him… Allison doesn’t want to be partially responsible for that. Especially because she knows he is innocent. She hates her family for putting her in this position, and she hates herself for what she is about to do. She knows they’ll all be locked up for years. Kidnapping and assault of a minor is a serious crime. But she also knows she can’t keep this to herself. Especially when his dad is right next to her looking like he’s barely keeping it together.

“I know where Stiles is.”


	5. Revelations

“This is your last chance. Right here, right now. Otherwise, this knife gets plunged into your stomach and you’ll slowly bleed out.”

He spit out the blood in her face, making her angry. She currently has a knife pressed against his abdomen and is grilling him for information. Again. He knows this is it for him, so he might as well go down fighting. Right as she seems like she’ll finally do it, there’s a bang.

“Police!” A voice calls out loudly, but it sounds far away.

Kate’s eyes widen momentarily, before she grimaces. She drops the knife and grabs her bag, trying to make it out the exit. Apparently following through on the promise to kill him is less important than her freedom. Good. He sees this as his golden opportunity. Out of all the times he has tried to escape, this would be the one that works. It has to be.

“Hey! I’m in here!” He yells, trying to get their attention. His voice barely makes it above speaking level, he is so weak.

Luckily, someone hears him and calls back, “Stiles?” 

He recognizes the voice instantly. “Dad!”

The door bangs open and he struggles against the bonds. The SWAT team fans out, and he is met with the face of his dad. He begins to sob, tugging even harder, to the point where he feels his wrists cracking under the pressure.

He can see his dad visibly panic seeing him in this state. Stiles can’t blame him. “Oh, Stiles.”

He sags against the bonds, begging, “Dad, dad… please. Get me out.”

“Yeah, hold on. I’m coming.”

His dad rushes over and immediately cuts him out. The second his arms are free, he falls forward, directly into his dad’s arms. He doesn’t think he can stand even if he wanted to. His injuries scream at him once they make contact with the rough material of his dad’s uniform, but there isn’t much he can do about that.

He looks up above his dad’s shoulder to see Kate being handcuffed by one of the deputies, who is currently reading her the Miranda Rights. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford one, one will be provided for you.”

As she gets shoved out of the room, she makes one last threat. “Trust me, Stiles. This isn’t over.”

His dad pulls away to assess his injuries, and Stiles whines at the lack of contact and warmth. Feeling how cold Stiles is, he sheds his coat, and wraps it around the boy. Being in a basement in this weather, already isn’t good, but also Stiles hadn’t been wearing a shirt. The more the sheriff sees, the more concerned he gets. Stiles can see his eyebrows getting more furrowed and his frown deepening.

“We need to get you out of here. Can you walk?” Stiles attempts to take a step forward, but his dad has to catch him from immediately face planting. He shakes his head.

His dad scoops him up bridal style, tucking him close to his chest. Stiles subconsciously buries himself closer to the man. His dad moves as fast as he can out of the room without jostling him too much. Despite this, he can tell his chest has begun to bleed again, and he is getting dizzier by the second. Now that the adrenaline is fading, or at least not as strong as before, he is starting to feel the extent of his injuries and exhaustion.

“I thought I was gonna die.” He whispers to his dad.

The sheriff won’t hear anything about it. “You’re not gonna die. You’re fine. I’m getting you out.”

“Getting… out.” Stiles can feel his brain function slowing and his speech slurring.

His dad gives him a light shake. “I need you to stay awake and keep talking to me, okay, son?”

“’m so tired.” He tries to keep his eyes open, he really does, but it’s really hard.

“I know but you’ve lost a lot of blood and I’ll bet you have a pretty bad concussion. Do you know why you need to stay awake if you have a concussion.”

“Yeah…”

“Explain it to me. Use that big brain of yours.”

He thinks really hard and remembers reading about it once. “Because otherwise you can’t check for permanent brain damage, like weakness or a seizure.”

“Exactly.”

“I… can’t.” He finally manages to say.

“You have to. Stiles, please.” His dad is practically crying at this point, and Stiles wants to help, but he can’t.

They reach outside, and Stiles can feel the biting wind, making him more desperate to fall asleep. He stopped feeling cold days ago, but now he can’t stop the shivering. He just wants the pain to stop. Distantly, he can hear voices and sirens, but he is too out of it to notice much.

The last thing he hears before passing out is a woman saying, “We can take it from here, Sheriff. Don’t worry.”

The next thing he knows, he is in pain. Not sharp, life threatening pain, but a dull ache in his whole body. He has a pounding headache, but he is in a soft, comfortable bed. He vaguely thinks of Kate and his dad, but his brain is still so foggy that he can’t keep ahold of any coherent thoughts. He opens his mouth to talk, but all that comes out it a groan.

“Stiles?” He hears a voice ask him. It’s familiar, but he can’t quite place it.

All of a sudden, his eyes shoot open and he reaches out in front of him. “Dad! Where’s my dad?”

“I’m right here, son.” The sheriff says, entering his line of vision and grabbing onto his shoulders.

This makes Stiles relax some, and his dad helps him sink back into the pillows. He can see Melissa McCall is there as well, and Stiles realizes that she was the voice he heard before. Luckily, his dad sits on the side of the bed, not leaving his line of sight.

He can finally take in his surroundings. He is in a hospital bed, from the looks of it, and it’s probably about noon. He can clearly see the sun outside his window. He notices the distinct lack of his best friend, which worries him.

“Is Scott okay?”

Melissa shakes her head, exasperatedly. “Scott’s totally fine. He’s outside, waiting for you.”

“Why wouldn’t Scott be okay?” His dad asks, but it goes ignored as Scott rushes into the room.

“Stiles!” Scott yells, wrapping him in a tight hug. It makes Stiles wince, and Scott sheepishly pulls away.

“How’d you find me?” Stiles asks them, looking around.

After a few tense seconds, his dad responds. “It was Allison.”

He has to admit, he’s surprised. “…Allison?”

“Right after she left you, she found me and told me where to get you.” He leans forward with a damp towel to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. “She’ll probably be very relieved to hear you’re okay.”

“I’m sorry we couldn’t find you sooner.” Scott frowns, sitting on the other side of the bed.

Stiles looks at Scott in the eyes, sincerely telling him. “It’s okay.”

Well, it’s not okay, but that’s not Scott’s fault.

“Are you able to tell us what happened?” His dad asks, climbing off the bed and moving to the chair to give him some more room.

“I can go. Give you both some privacy.” Melissa gives him a small smile before shooting Scott a look and disappearing from the room.

“I…um…” He looks over at Scott, who nods, giving him the approval to spill the truth, before following his mom out the door.

“Dad, I…” His voice falters and he squeezes his eyes shut tightly.

“Stiles.” His dad cuts him off and leans forward to grab his hand. “I need to know.”

“I was driving home from the crime scene. You know, the one from Friday night?” His dad nods. “Wait, hold on a minute. What day is it?”

“It’s Monday afternoon.”

He flops his head against the pillows. “Oh, God. It’s been almost three days.”

“I know. Longest three days of my life.”

“Mine too.” He chuckles awkwardly. His dad gives him a tired smile, but doesn’t say anything else, giving Stiles the space to continue talking. “The Jeep got a flat tire.” He paused again. “Did you find my Jeep?”

“Yes, it’s in the driveway. Can you focus?”

“Sorry, lack of Adderall.”

That made his father’s face soften and he squeezed his hand. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Just keep talking.”

“Anyway, the Jeep got a flat. When I pulled over and got out to look for it, I was approached by…” He falters. Does he tell his dad it was both Chris and Kate Argent? On one hand, they are definitely responsible. But also, he doesn’t want Chris to be locked up after Allison helped him, and Chris wasn’t nearly as involved as Kate. But Scott… he decides he can’t risk it. “Kate and Chris Argent.”

“The Argents?”

He nods. “They started talking to me about this weird stuff, which I’ll get into later, and I got scared so I ran into the woods. They chased me and I tried to hide, but Kate found me. She shot an arrow into my shirt, so I got pinned to the tree, and then knocked me out. When I woke up, she had me tied up to a weird gate or something. I know Mr. Argent helped take me, but I don’t think he really knew how far Kate was taking it.”

“Do you know why you were taken?”

Stiles sighs, knowing how complicated this is about to get. “It’s an even longer story, are you sure you’re okay to hear it?”

“We have lots of time.”

“Scott’s a werewolf.”

His father blinks, taken aback by the blunt statement. He blinks a few times before managing to formulate a response.

“Stiles, this is serious.”

“I’m being serious. He can show you when he comes back.”

“Okay. Let’s say I believe you.”

“The Argents are werewolf hunters. They are looking for the alpha – the one who is causing all the supposed animal attacks. That’s also the one who bit Scott.”

“I’m still struggling to see how you come into this.”

“She thought I was Scott. Well, not Scott-Scott, because she knows who Scott is because of Allison, but the beta part. She thought I was the werewolf. She was hoping to get information about who or where the alpha is.”

“The alpha?”

“Head werewolf. We’ve been trying to find him for weeks now, but still have nothing.”

“We are going to come back to that later.” He gives his son a pointed look. “What did you tell her?”

“I tried so hard to convince her it wasn’t me. I really did. And I honestly don’t know anything.”

He comes close to crying again and can feel his breathing speed up. He wants to believe this is all over, that he’s safe, but all he can feel is the suffocating pain of being in that basement and having Kate grill him for information he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know, he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know, he doesn’t-

His dad reaches forward and puts a hand on his face, making Stiles look at him. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry. I believe you. And she’s gone.”

He gulps and manages to begin breathing again at a normal pace. “Yeah, yeah. I’m okay.”

His dad gives him a sad smile. He can only imagine how he appears right now – physically scarred and emotionally unstable. He hates it, but there isn’t anything he can do about it. Instead, he focuses on his dad. He has huge bags under his eyes, like he hasn’t slept at all recently. Stiles would bet his Jeep that he hadn’t. His hair was disheveled, and he was still wearing his uniform that was covered in blood. Stiles’ blood. He didn’t want to think about that or the pain he had put his father through anymore.

His dad takes some pity on him, and slightly changes the subject. “You had some pretty serious injuries, son. Can you tell me about those?”

“She was trying out ways to ‘extract the information from me.’” He tries to make air quotes, but his shoulders are both in slings and ache like crazy, so it comes off as more of a flopped hand motion. His dad seems to get the message though, and Stiles isn’t sure if that’s a good thing because, if possible, it makes him even more distraught.

“The marks… across your chest…”

“Knife wounds.” Stiles says apathetically, trying not to think about how he got them.

_She drags the tip of the knife slowly across his collar bone. Even though it’s not deep, he is in some serious pain, so he can’t help but cry out. She seems to take pleasure in this, making it deeper to the point where the top of his chest is covered in blood. He is getting dizzy when she finally steps back._

“The burns?”

“Taser.”

_She turns it on and he can practically see it crackle with electricity. He braces himself for what is to come. Unfortunately, nothing could have prepared him for this. The burning sensation spread from his torso all the way up to his arms and down his legs and he withered with pain, crying out. This only serves as motivation to her, as she pulls it away and lets him catch his breath before doing it again. The second time is just as bad, if not worse, than the first._

As if he can read his mind and pluck out all the horrors like film rolls, his father says, “Oh, Stiles.”

“How bad was the damage, dad?”

“The injuries I told you about, both of your shoulders dislocated, torn skin around your wrists, multiple fractures in your wrists as well, a cracked rib, and some serious bruising, especially around your left cheek. Plus, dehydration and mild hypothermia.” Stiles gulps and looks down at his hospital bed. “Hey. On the bright side, you didn’t catch any infections in your wounds. That’s really lucky.” Stiles gives him a weak smile and nods.

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” His father wipes some of the sweat of his forehead again, asking “Is there anything else I should know?”

That causes Stiles to finally remember. “The fire!”

“What?” The sheriff is taken aback.

“The Hale Fire! Kate told me that was her!”

“Oh! Hold on… let me just…” His dad fumbles for his phone. He stands up, and Stiles can hear him talk to the deputies at the station. A few minutes later, he returns to the side of his bed. “They’re looking into it.”

“Do you need to be back at the station?” He asks, tentatively.

“No, I need to be right here with my son.” He says, sinking back into the chair.

While Stiles knows he is safe at the hospital, especially with Scott here, he can’t help but be flooded with relief that his dad is staying.

“Okay.” After a long pause, he decided to explain further. “The Hales are werewolves. That’s why she started the fire.”

“Okay.” Probably sensing that Stiles is definitely done with this particular conversation, the sheriff glances towards the door. “Do you think Scott could show me his little party trick now?”

Scott takes that moment to reenter the room. Stiles rolls his eyes, knowing that Scott had been using his super hearing. As much as he wished Scott hadn’t heard what happened with Kate, Stiles knows he would’ve done the exact same thing, so he can’t fault him.

“Were you eavesdropping?” Stiles says, giving him a look.

He at least has the decency to look sheepish. “I can’t help it.”

Scott turns and looks out the window into the hallway, making sure no one is coming, before transforming. His hear and sideburns grow out, his teeth sharpen, his nose flattens, and his eyes turn a fierce yellow. It still impresses Stiles, even though he has seen this happen multiple times already. He turns to his dad and sees the same awestruck wide eyed expression on his face.

“Holy shit.” The sheriff mumbles.

“I know.”

He turns to Stiles. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I didn’t want you to worry. I wanted you to be safe.” He responds, suddenly finding his plain white bedsheets very interesting.

“Stiles, you don’t need to take care of me. I can handle this.”

He hesitates, before finally admitting. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to lose you either. I need you to tell me things, because then I can help.” It’s obvious what he is referring to. Stiles’ fun weekend plans. “Can you do that?”

“I can try.”

His time spent at the hospital is long and painful. Not in the physical sense – though that is true too. He has to do everything with help due to his shoulders and wrists, and Melissa has to come change the bandages on his chest a few times a day. That, and it took him a while to finally feel warm again. He is set to go home in a few hours. But also, it is extremely boring and there is very little to keep his ADHD mind occupied.

He isn’t alone very often, between his dad, Scott, and Melissa, but he doesn’t mind. Though in this moment, it is one of the times he has the room to himself. He is watching a dumb kids show on the television in the room, as it is one of the few stations he gets, when he hears a knock at the door. He looks up expecting another nurse, because his family never knocks, but instead sees the familiar face of Allison Argent.

“Oh, Allison. Hi.”

“Hi.” She sits tentatively at the end of his bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. Better than expected.” He shrugs, but the action makes him wince.

Allison pretends not to notice. “That’s good.”

“Listen-” he starts to say, but Allison says at the same time, “Look-.”

They laugh at the coincidence, and he gestures for her to go first. “I’m sorry about what happened to you.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“It was my dad and my aunt. My aunt called me there.”

“Yeah, exactly. It was them. I don’t blame you.”

“I believed her. I left you there.”

“You told my dad where I was. You’re the reason I’m alive right now.” He tells her sincerely, as she meets his eyes.

“Stiles-”

He quickly cuts her off. “Don’t fight with me on this, Allison. I owe you everything.”

“Okay.” She stands up and brushes off imaginary dirt from her pants. “I’m supposed to meet Lydia pretty soon, so I should go. I just wanted to check on you.”

“Thank you.” He gives her a small wave as she starts to head out.

She falters when she reaches the door. She turns around to look at him, and he cocks his head in confusion, until she finally speaks. “Lydia knows vaguely about what happened. I’ll make sure to make you seem really tough and heroic.”

He grins at her, making her smile, before leaving the room.

When he finally gets discharged, he is relieved. He still has a brace on each wrist, but it’s better than a cast, and his stitches on his chest have healed enough that it won’t cause issues. He’s sore everywhere, but that is to be expected. He is very relieved to be leaving.

That feeling of euphoria triples when he enters his house. He hasn’t been here since the morning before the Situation, and he’s missed it so much. He could’ve cried when his dad reminded him that Stiles had also cleaned his room last Thursday, so there wouldn’t be papers all over the floor. 

His dad drops him and Scott off, before heading to the station. He tells the boys that he wishes he could be there, but they all know he is needed at the station. Especially when the big case they are dealing with is related to the Argents. Stiles can’t deny that he feels a little less safe and a little more unsure without his dad around, but Scott definitely helps. When he isn’t being a total mother hen.

“Let me help you up the stairs.” Scott says, standing behind him just in case.

“I’ve got it.” He grimaces, stepping forward.

Scott steps forward, putting a hand on his waist to support him. “Stiles, you can barely move the upper half of your body.”

“Seriously, dude, I’m fine!” Scott’s face turns to a look of hurt, and he backs off, making Stiles sigh. “I’m sorry. I just hate feeling so helpless all the time.”

“You’re not helpless.”

This causes all of Stiles built up emotions and insecurities to come flying out, directed at Scott, despite the fact that Stiles knew he didn’t deserve it.

“Yes, I am! I sat there in that basement for three days, unable to break out of zip ties. Literal zip ties, Scott! Tiny plastic strings! You can break those in your sleep! And I thought I was going to die. I legitimately came to terms with my own death, which is terrifying in and of itself. I am 147 pounds of frail skin and fragile bones, with exactly no superpowers.” He chuckles darkly, doing his best to take another step up the stairs. “I’m only human.”

“But you’re smart.”

“That apparently only gets you so far.” Scott seems at a loss for words, so he does what he knows best – completely ignoring Stiles’ depreciation and lack of self-preservation. Scott loops Stiles arm around his shoulder to support him, and this time Stiles lets him. Neither of them say anything else.

Scott drops him off in the bathroom, where Stiles assures him he can shower on his own. He turns the water to as hot as he can get it without burning off his skin. While he had taken a few during his hospital stay, there was nothing like using his own soap and being in his own bathroom. He has to remove his braces to get in, which he knows isn’t a good idea, but he does it anyway. He let out an audible sound of relief when the warm water hit him. Both the warmth and the familiar smell of his peppermint shampoo remove some of the tension.

After about ten minutes, he convinces himself to get out. He doesn’t appreciate the chillness of the air – it brings back some bad memories – but luckily Scott had left him some clothes on the counter, including a soft t-shirt and his favorite pair of sweatpants branded with the Beacon Hills Lacrosse logo.

When he opens the door, he is met with the face of Scott, ready to help him into his room. They stumble across the hall and into his room. It looks exactly like he remembered, which makes sense, because it had only been a week, but it still brought him comfort. He was never much of a sentimental person, but he has a new appreciation for his life. Even thinking that makes him want to throw up because it is so cheesy, but it’s true.

Scott deposits him onto his bed, before taking a seat at his desk. He leans back in the chair and stares at the wall. Stiles can practically hear the gears turning in his head.

“This isn’t your fault.” Stiles says, looking at him.

“I know.” Scott mutters, but it’s weak.

Stiles rolls his eyes and props himself up to look at Scott. “Maybe say it a little more convincing next time.”

“It’s just… they were looking for the beta. They were looking for me.”

“And you didn’t know anything either.” Stiles points out.

“But I can heal!”

“So she would’ve hurt you more! Face it, Scott. There’s no way you could’ve prevented this.”

“If I can’t blame myself, then neither can you.” Now that is unfair.

“Wait, hold on-” Stiles is cut off by a harsh glare from Scott. “Fine. Neither of our faults.”

Scott sighs, and Stiles flops back onto the bed. “Will you be okay up here? I’m going to go downstairs and call Derek.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He waves him off.

“It’ll only be a few minutes.”

“I know.”

Despite that, Stiles is not fine. He glances around the room every few seconds, half expecting to see the face of Kate Argent emerge from the darkness. Being the paranoid person he is, he climbs out of bed and stumbles towards the window. He triple checks that it is locked, even though logically he knows that she wouldn’t come here and, even if she did, something dumb like a window lock wouldn’t stop her. Either way, that helps his nerves. Though he still probably won’t be able to sleep. Nightmares.

His thoughts are interrupted by Scott rushing into the room only minutes later, practically screaming into the phone. He can see his dad’s name on the caller ID, which Stiles assumes is not a good thing. Especially paired with Scott’s whole demeanor.

“Stiles.”

“What?” Seeing the look on Scott’s face makes Stiles uneasy. “What happened?”

The next sentence makes Stiles’ blood run cold. “Kate Argent broke out of custody.”

Across town, Kate meets up with Chris Argent. She had called him once she evaded the police, which was a particularly easy feat. They weren’t the brightest bunch. Her brother agreed to meet at a small diner, out of the way. This way nobody would be able to find them in the short time they need to talk, while also staying in Beacon Hills to finish their mission. Right now, the Argent house will be the first place they check for the two. Especially because they were looking for Chris as well. Damn Stilinski.

She obviously gets berated for her aggression and carelessness, especially because Chris discovered Stiles was not, in fact, the beta. She should feel guilty, but she doesn’t. He did know something, after all. Ramblings aside, there is a purpose to this meeting – Chris knows who the second beta is. And it has been confirmed.

Scott McCall.

And this time they won’t mess it up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... and after that is canon!!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this and all the support you've given me!! I hope you liked it. :)


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